Pixel Art Key Unlock: Pixel art key unlock: a gold key slides into a padlock and turns, the shackle snaps open in a flash with rays, rings and star glints, then the lock burns away into gold pixels.

Pixel Art Key Unlock

Pixel art key unlock: a gold key slides into a padlock and turns, the shackle snaps open in a flash with rays, rings and star glints, then the lock burns away into gold pixels. Use it for unlocked doors, chests, levels and achievements in RPGs, puzzle games and menus.

Pixel Art Key Unlock is a pixel art effect that loops seamlessly every 3.2 seconds, drawn on a 336 by 288 canvas at 3x pixels. It is built from 20 particle emitters and 19 glowing strokes. Most layers blend additively, so it glows on dark backgrounds.

Colour

Recolours the preview and the free downloads.

Free download with a transparent background, cropped to the effect, 96 frames at 30 fps. Use it in commercial games, no credit needed.

Licence: use it in any project, including paid commercial games such as a game sold on Steam. There is no per-project licence to buy and no credit needed. Terms.

Roblox: the download is a flipbook for a ParticleEmitter. Set FlipbookLayout to Grid8x8, FlipbookMode to OneShot and Lifetime to 3.2, then emit one particle per cycle. Roblox setup.

REMIX WITH AI

Try:

Left empty, it just opens in the agent, free. Each change is one AI build, and you start with free builds.

Engine data for Unity, Godot, GameMaker and Aseprite comes with a plan: open it in the studio.

OPEN IN THE STUDIO

Change the colours, timing or size, or export for Unity, Godot 4, GameMaker, Phaser, PixiJS and Aseprite.

Try variations: new colours, motion and shapes of this effect, free in the studio.

FRAME BY FRAME

8 evenly spaced moments across the 3.2 s loop.

Pixel Art Key Unlock at 8 moments, from 0 s to 2.8 s

HOW IT'S MADE

Pixel Art Key Unlock is drawn with 19 glowing strokes, lines with a hot core and a soft glow traced along their shapes, plus 20 particle emitters. Techniques worth a look: sprite modules, a sprite dissolve, particles stretched along their motion, keyframed parameters and post filters (colour grade).

It loops seamlessly every 3.2 s, and 15 of its layers fire in bursts, so it pulses instead of flowing evenly. Start times are staggered from 0 s to 2.25 s, so the layers arrive one after another. To recolour the line, select "Light ray" and change Core and Glow; Start and End set how much of it is drawn. Pixel size in the Pixel art panel sets how chunky it looks. The colour swatches by the downloads recolour every layer at once.

Layers, in draw order

  1. Lock glowparticles / additiveA single particle at 0.02 s. Colour: orange.
  2. Light ray, Light ray, Light ray +4stroke / additiveA glowing line traced along a path. Its start and end are keyframed, so it writes itself on and off. It flickers like a failing neon tube.
  3. Light ray, Light ray, Light ray +7stroke / additiveA glowing line traced along a path. Its start and end are keyframed, so it writes itself on and off.
  4. ShacklespriteA placed image. Extras: shake, dissolve, hit flash and keyframed motion.
  5. PadlockspriteA placed image. Extras: shake, shine sweep, dissolve and hit flash.
  6. Key turnedspriteA placed image. Extras: shake and dissolve.
  7. KeyspriteA placed image. Extras: smear frames, hit flash and keyframed motion.
  8. Forming pixels, Shackle pixels, Key pixelsparticles / additiveA steady stream of pixels from the sprite's dissolving edge. They float upward and slow down with drag. Colour runs from white to orange over each life.
  9. Key glintparticles / additiveA single particle at 0.18 s. It shrinks as it ages. Colour: white.
  10. Keyhole clinkparticles / additiveA single particle at 0.54 s. It shrinks as it ages. Colour: white.

16 more layers are in the studio.

DETAILS

Length
3.2 seconds, seamless loop
Canvas
336 x 288, pixel art at 3x
Layers
20 emitters and 19 glowing strokes
Blend
Mostly additive (glows)
Colours
whitegoldpale goldorange
Sprites
Built-in shapes only
Tags
pixel art, pixel, vfx, key, unlock, lock, padlock, door, reward, ui, puzzle, rpg

USING IT IN YOUR GAME

Phaser, PixiJS
The PNG sheet is a plain grid of frames that both can slice. A TexturePacker JSON atlas comes with a plan, from the studio.
Unity
Import the PNG sheet as a Sprite with Mode set to Multiple and slice it, or open the effect in the studio for a ready-made grid.
Godot 4, GameMaker, Aseprite
Open it in the studio and pick your engine in Export: with a plan, it writes the files that engine imports.
Web and chat
The GIF plays anywhere; the APNG keeps soft edges on any background.
Blend mode
This effect is made of light. For the same glow in your game, draw the sprite with additive blending, or export it on black from the studio for additive shaders.

Step by step: Unity, Godot 4, Roblox, GameMaker, Phaser and PixiJS, Aseprite, Web games (live runtime). Drawn with additive blending: see glow effects without a black box.

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